Best Love
by Kenzie493
Summary: Maybe he wasn't Ino's first love...That title was reserved for Sasuke...but he was definitely the last man she would ever love.


**BEST LOVE**

**By Kenzie493**

**AN: I love this pairing so much! I hope you enjoy my story!**

Ino had never kissed a boy before. Of course, she had SAID to anyone who'd listen that she and Sasuke had brushed more than just arms in the past--vague, yes, but everyone got the message. And no one ever could or would contradict her. Sasuke couldn't care less about the rumors going around concerning them two. He was emotionless and definitely not that frivolous to bother with noticing his reputation.

Ino was positive she had loved Sasuke in her own way. She barely knew him, granted, but she "loved him from afar." She thought it was terribly romantic. And that was all it really ever WAS. A romantic daydream about a boy she truly cared for, no matter what one might say about her. Sasuke was special. She LOVED special. And she'd always love him with some portion of her heart. He was her first love, and such a memorable thing for a growing girl. That's the sort of thing she'd never want to forget.

But a first kiss--she'd definitely never forget it even if she wanted to. And she DIDN'T want to. Anything but that. This boy was different from Sasuke. Well, most boys were--Sasuke was exceptional in his own right--but this boy was special too, in his own, better way. It was a kind of special that she found herself loving more and more completely, with all of her young, girlish, and hopelessly romantic heart. Hell, she'd never love again! This boy was honest. He was frank and thoughtful and perceptive and deserving too. She'd seen almost everything he'd ever done. Ino knew how he worked, how he thought, how he spoke and sat and slept. Not that she followed him--They were simply close, just close enough for Ino not to realize anything.

He loved her. He loved her completely and entirely and totally with all his being. Sure, they had so few years under their belts that they both knew this easily could turn out not to be true love. But she loved him as much as she was able, and he did the same. From afar, at first. Ino found this to be terribly romantic, of course. But then he kissed her. He kissed her.

It was all so spur-of-the-moment and thoughtless. She didn't think of what it could mean when he suddenly leaned over and kissed her, laying down in the grass together. She just let it happen. Her first kiss was something sacred--she'd be damned if she had tried to do anything to cut it short. No, she was enjoying herself too much.

And when they broke apart--when he rolled back to his original position and stared calmly at the sky--she told him she liked it. She told him he was her first kiss and she was glad it was him. She was so vulnerable and he smiled. He smiled up at the sky, then rolled over and kissed her again. There were no consequences. They knew this was supposed to happen. They knew that despite how potentially frightening this was, it was a destined thing--a destined meeting of lips and skin.

He was made for her and she for him. He was everything she wasn't and she was the opposite of all he had wanted, but somehow these differences only made it all better and stronger and happier. Nothing could have kept them apart. Not Sasuke. Not anything.

She didn't know what to think of it all, and they didn't talk any further about that kiss for days, though there were fingers innocently brushing fingers, eyes innocently locking eyes, time and time again until he confronted her.

He said her loved her. Not since the day they met or anything so sappy. He had grown to love her over the time they shared. Once he really knew her, then he fell in love. Ino knew she couldn't have asked for anything better.

She told him in response that she loved him just a little the first day they were real friends--something so true and raw it was almost to intimidating to go on, but she fought for it--and it had progressed inch by inch. His kiss had sealed the deal. She was hopelessly devoted.

Though she had dreamt of storybook princes and red roses, there was something to be said for a lazy bum and sun-burnt grass. He may not have been her first love, but Shikamaru was definitely the BEST love. And, Ino thought, that was certainly all that mattered when it came right down to it.


End file.
